This is by far the best PLN for educators that I have found! I send out a tech tidbit each week to my staff and always include something new that I've discovered on the site and in communities. I believe that online PLNs are the way that many districts are heading, not just because of budget cuts, but because this is the wave of the future...present!
—Janna Elfrink, Instructional Technology Specialist, Reeds Spring R-IV School District, Reeds Spring, MO
I am a 4th grade teacher from a very small school district. I am excited to view the webinars, collaborate with fellow educators, and be an active part of this community. Being a teacher from a small school district, I teach all subjects to my students, and I am the only grade level teacher. It will be very nice to have support from other 4th grade teachers.
—Janis Behrens, Teacher, Lind School District
in Implementing CCSS
I am so glad to be a member of Ed Web. I find Ed Web speakers at webinars and other members to be helpful and not selfish in sharing their resources and knowledge of best practice in education. I have benefited a lot from online networking and discussing issues commonly encountered in our field with colleagues from the US. I am encouraging my teachers to become a member and take advantage of what Ed Web has to offer. I will add to my new teacher training program Ed Web membership. Oh, I could go on and on.
—Leah Montano, ELD Program Coordinator, APU International School, Vietnam
So impressed with the edWeb PLCs and have been a member since last spring.
—Sherri James, Coordinator of Professional Growth and Learning, Portland Christian Schools
This was the first webinar that I've had a chance to view in quite some time.....as always....great information. Thanks to you, I sound so smart when I speak to my colleagues about trends and sites to inspire us in our journey toward 21st century tech.
—Donna Presz, Library Services Supervisor, Ottawa Catholic School Board, Ontario, Canada
I am also so thankful I found this incredible website and all the generous contributors. You have answered questions I didn't even know I had!
—Nancy McEnanly, Library Media Specialist, Mt. Pleasant High School, Providence, RI
I recently stumbled upon edWeb.net and I cannot say enough great things about it. In the short time I have become a member, I have attended several webinars with my teachers, watched archived sessions that I missed, made connections with other educators, and provided resources to my district about Common Core Standards. The membership is free and once you are logged in, you can search for communities to belong to such as PD in Action and Implementing the Common Core Standards. Many of the communities host live webinars and all sessions are archived and include the slides and recorded chat session files. In addition, the site includes personal profiles, live chat, messaging, polling, discussions, shared calendars, wikis, and shared bookmarks.
—Lynn Reedy, Discovery Education Blog
I am so impressed with the responsiveness of this site. I have learned a great deal and have shared so much information with my colleagues. I am also encouraging them to join us. You are doing a masterful job and I thank you.
—Eva O'Mara, Principal, Highland Drive Elementary, Brecksville, OH
edWeb has proven to be a valuable resource for our learning community. The number one complaint of all educators is not enough time. edweb provides an online meeting spot where ideas and resources can be shared with ease. We can use it in school or in the comfort of our own home. It easy to use and has so many useful applications.
—Cory Radisch, Principal, Maple Place Middle School
I love the archived webinars because I am able to stop and start and go back and in general, take my time to absorb the information. Thanks for all you do to make this possible.
—Elaine Moore, Media Specialist, Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School
My name is Amy Isackson. This year I am a middle school Technology/Math coach for the Eagle Point School District in Eagle Point, Oregon. I am so excited to be a part of this community! I can't wait to hear how other teachers are engaging their students in math and look forward to sharing what the teachers in our district are doing.
—Amy Isackson
In Escape from the Textbook
Wow, I just finished this webinar and submitted the quiz for it. This was really great, and would benefit any first year teacher!!! Lots of good information. Thanks
—Glenda Crosby, Education Technician, Enfield Station School
In New Teacher Help
I found the presentation to be informative, insightful, and beneficial. I believe this is a perfect mix of hearing expertise shared with the opportunity to dialogue openly and have questions answered so quickly. It is a wonderful way to secure a range of ideas and reference in a short amount of time. Thank you for modeling what can be done through this venue. I need to learn more to do the same for our members for various topics. The work you are doing is real, relevant, and informative. Thank you for leading this collective engagement in thinking and processing about teaching, learning, and leadership.
—Kelly Meyers, Associate Executive Director, Association of Wisconsin School Administrators
In Learner-Centered School Leadership: Creating a Culture of Evidence
Our mission is to improve the lives of as many people as we can who are living with autism. Our edWeb.net community can exponentially increase our ability to support teachers and the school community as they educate students with autism. We are dumbfounded by what teachers are expected to do without the proper training and support to be successful. Through edWeb.net we provide much-needed online professional development support, and create a forum that helps teachers connect with their peers all across the country — and the world.
—Tom McCool, President, Eden Autism Services
I just want to let you know that our partners keep sending me emails raving about edWeb! We are so excited about it.
—Sofia Rivkin-Haas, Program Manager, NCTAF
The main differentiator between edWeb and other social networks is that edWeb creates a real community!
—Brandi Brown, Online Marketing Manager, Follett Software Company
This website ROCKS! I set up my community and sent out the email invites to all my teachers and 5 minutes later 3 had already joined! I kid you not. I tried using a Ning and this beats it by a mile! Thank you so much.
—Martha Vincent, Special Services, Region 8 Education Service Center, Mt. Pleasant TX
The edWeb tools have been extremely beneficial for our coaches. For instance, all documents from trainings and coaching information are made available online for their convenience and so that pertinent information does not get lost in personal hard drives. All important dates specifically for coaches are utilized with the calendar tool so communication about deadlines and professional development is clear. Coaches are currently using the Wiki to make changes to content outlined for an eventual Power Point presentation they will present. Blogs are used for coaches to share best practices. Recently, coaches were asked to share their experience with their initial meetings with their mentees. Another critical aspect of the edWeb community for our coaches is the threaded discussions. This tool was used initially by posting a question when coaches were first hired where they were asked to describe their expectations of a Technology Integration Coach. Coaches then responded and some included clarifying questions for others before everyone had met for the first time. They also took the online survey I created to get a visual for everyone to view regarding computer and teaching expertise of the group as a whole.
—Kelly Daly, Assistant Principal
Thanks for yesterday's Webinar. It was the first one that I have participated in and I found the content informative and the system of delivery easy and convenient. It was a snow day at school, so I participated from home. I was impressed by the number of participants from all over the globe. I would like to receive CEU documentation, the slides from the presentation and chat thread. Thanks again for a great professional development session. I look forward to using more of the resources, including Webinars, from edweb in the future.
—Robin Magistrali, Library Media Specialist, Torrington High School, Torrington, CT
In Exploring eBooks for K-12
I would like to compliment you on the wonderful work you and your team have done. We spent months looking at various options for a social networking site or framework able to accommodate our ambitious dreams and edWeb is it. We haven't regretted the decision for a minute.
—Carl Falsgraf, Director of the Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon
I really had a great time attending the live webinar on Using Data to Start the Conversation yesterday. I'm totally blown away with how the presenter elucidate the "4 big ideas" and how she backed them up with empirical data. I really agree with the presenter that Test Scores, Attendance, Graduation, Teacher Qualifications and Safety and Security are the major elements that would contribute to the "portrait of your school." These are really highly significant because they play a vital role in the achievement of that certain school in the district.
—Descartes Docabo, Frontier College, Ontario
I want to thank you for this course as it has inspired me to step outside my comfort level and start making partnerships with for instance the public teen librarian who has access to tonnes of ebooks. I am trying to get ereaders here for kids to sign out in order to use her collection. Also, I am now partnering with a very tech savvy French language teacher. We are joining together to teach staff how to use emerging technology to build content in their classes. She and I will demonstrate the techniques at staff meetings and I will support teachers by facilitating in learning the "how- to" on their prep time in the library. I now also have a vision of how social media can be used to enhance my library program, and even though my blog is still vastly underutilized, I have hope for the future in trying Facebook and Twitter now that our board is easing up on the filters.
—Sarah Murray, Teacher-Librarian, St. Joseph High School
In Using Emerging Technology to Advance Your School Library Program
Thank you for the lesson plan documents. They are excellent and it is always nice when you don't have to "invent the wheel." Keep up the great work!
—Laura Breazeale, Teacher, Sumter County Middle School, Americus, Georgia
In Teaching Students With Autism
The discussions are brilliant. The responses that I have seen are very diverse and all are worthy of further discussion.
—Brad Henry
In Game-Based Learning
As a freelance journalist, I'm always looking for the best sources to interview for the stories I write for Ed Week and other publications. EdWeb gives me instant access to educators around the nation who can speak passionately about what matters to them most. And for that I am deeply grateful!
—–Robin L. Flanigan
edWeb.net–favorite site of the year?? If you aren't familiar with edweb.net "where the education community meets," take a tour. This is a social network that belongs in the "must experience" category of your web life for those involved in education.
—The Library Notes Blog